BlindSquare
4+

Blind Navigation-Changes Lives

Screenshots

Description

BlindSquare is pioneering accessible navigation both indoors and outdoors. Know where you are, know where you're going, travel with confidence.

BlindSquare is a new solution that combines the latest technology to help the blind with their daily lives. It has been developed in collaboration with blind people and carefully field tested. You need either an iPhone or an iPad to get started. It also supports some additional accessories to enhance the experience.

How does it work?

BlindSquare uses GPS and the compass to locate you. It then gathers information about the surrounding environment from FourSquare. BlindSquare has some unique algorithms to decide what information is the most relevant and then speaks it to you with high quality speech synthesis. “What's the most popular café within 200 meters radius? Where is the post office or the library?”

You can control BlindSquare also through voice commands. The Voice Command feature is a premium service requiring purchase of credits for continuous use. Voice Command Credits are available as an in-app purchase on the App Store.

Using BlindSquare as a GPS solution:

When you start the app, it will start telling you the interesting places and street crossings around you. By changing the radius, you can limit the area you are interested in. You can also search by search term or by category. You can select an interesting place from the search results and perform the following tasks:

1) Get contact info (address, phone number) 2) Open twitter feed or restaurant menu (if provided)3) Make a phone call4) Start tracking the place (BlindSquare will assist you by repeating the distance and the clock face direction)5) Start your favourite navigator for turn-by-turn instructions (TomTom, Navigon or Apple Maps)

BlindSquare is aware of when you travel by car, bus or train and starts to report interesting places in front of you (for example, the next stops) and street crossings when you are passing them.

You can also save your own private places to iCloud so they will be found with your every device.

Using BlindSquare as a Foursquare client:

If you like to play Foursquare, you can do the following with BlindSquare:

1) Get a list of nearby FourSquare venues2) When you are in a place, you can check in by shaking your device3) Do a check in with commenting and twitter/facebook sharing4) Correct the location of the place

Please note: To use BlindSquare, your iCloud account has to be active so BlindSquare can access it to save your settings and places.

Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

What's New

Version History

4.90

18 Oct 2018

Fixes issue that caused app to crash

4.89

16 Oct 2018

Minor fixes

4.86

30 Aug 2018

FIX: Uber is functioning again

4.83

16 Jul 2018

Many have 100's of POI records stored as "MY PLACES". You can now BACKUP/RESTORE all your "MY PLACES" records, or by using filters EXPORT a subset to a GEOJSON file, that is emailed to yourself or others.

Steps:1) Select MY PLACES / ACTION / BACKUP MY PLACES. You can make backup of all or filter by name, distance etc. Backup file, with a date/time-stamp file name, is emailed. 2) Open the email. Select backup file and select "copy to BlindSquare".3) IMPORT feature is automatically started. You can browse through records selecting individual records to restore. 4) The button, top right, will indicate "IMPORT: n" where n is the count of POI records selected. If you don't select any POI records, the top right button will read "Restore My Places" and will restore all.

NOTE: BlindSquare will not RESTORE a POI that already exists. So, you can freely test RESTORING all -- You will not get duplicates. You can then delete few POI'S and then RESTORE again: Only ones you deleted are RESTORED.

4.79

30 May 2018

Minor fixes.

4.78

6 May 2018

Map data updated

4.74

4 Apr 2018

In some cases we didn't show your places in My Places. Now we do.

4.72

4 Mar 2018

- Support for more indoor location places- Support for Transit App- Bug fixes

4.67

5 Dec 2017

Support for iPhone X.Accessibility enhancements for partially sighted users.Problems with My Places, address announcements and giving feedback is fixed.

4.66

1 Dec 2017

Support for iPhone X.Accessibility enhancements for partially sighted users.Problem with My Places and giving feedback is fixed.

4.65

29 Nov 2017

Support for iPhone X.Accessibility enhancements for partially sighted users.

4.64

27 Nov 2017

Support for iPhone X.Accessibility enhancements for partially sighted users.

4.61

8 Oct 2017

Bug fixes

4.60

6 Oct 2017

Bug fixes

4.57

5 Sep 2017

Changes to indoor navigation

4.55

1 Aug 2017

Bug fixes

4.54

27 Jul 2017

Bug fixes

4.52

5 Jun 2017

In version 4.50 we bring new features for your fun and travels.

1. What3Words (w3w), is a really simple way to talk about locations. The organization has divided the world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares and assigned each one a unique 3 word address. 57,000,000,000,000, 3 m squares, it's own three word address! With these 3 words, connected by periods, anyone can accurately find any location and share it more quickly, easily and with less ambiguity than any other means.

For sighted persons the service can be used via the free mobile app or online map. The 3 word combination can be shared verbally, or in all digital means as 3 pure words or the same 3 words embedded in a link for ease-of-use for the recipient. Image, being able to call for a taxi or uber car and to easily identify that you will be standing under a canopy, because it's raining. Imagine being able to share your exact location with a sighted or blind friend before you meet for dinner. Imagine, being on a hiking trail and wanting to share this favorite location as a future meeting place. Easy. With this release of BlindSquare you can establish, in an instant, the 3.word.location using the Voice Command "What 3 words". Your 3 word location will be read aloud! If you move outside of your current 3x3m grid, a new request will deliver a new precise 3 word combination for your new location. Simple. You can also access this and more features by accessing Tools, GPS info and "Share my location" where the new button for What 3 Words will both read your location, copy it to clipboard for downstream use or share it in all the familiar ways such as email, sms and more. Try it, it's exciting! You can learn more by following this link: https://youtu.be/b2GyLKmfP8E

2. In this release you will also find that we killed a few annoying bugs, correcting some street announcement problems in some areas, where wrong street name were read, and killed a bug related to importing GPX format - now corrected.

3. We continue to bring new standards for delivering information, illuminating the information darkness when travelling indoors. We are fast approaching over 300 buildings serviced with BlindSquare, providing seamless support when traveling from outdoors to indoors and back again. New features added to support the use of BlindSquare Dynamic QR's, unlocking detailed descriptions for "what's beyond the door" with ease. Expanding options for city and campus deployments of BlindSquare CLS (Customized Location Services) providing public-facing descriptions of objects and locations that don't exist in conventional mapping.

There is more coming, lead by YOUR feedback and suggestions and those of the caring organizations that we're fortunate to work with.

We welcome you to join the BlindSquare community list serve for support, feedback and the benefits of connecting with others sharing the benefits of BlindSquare.

Subscribe to our discussion list by sending a blank Email to Blindsquaregps-subscribe@cruising.ultragroups.com

4.50

1 Jun 2017

In version 4.50 we bring new features for your fun and travels.

1. What3Words (w3w), is a really simple way to talk about locations. The organization has divided the world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares and assigned each one a unique 3 word address. 57,000,000,000,000, 3 m squares, it's own three word address! With these 3 words, connected by periods, anyone can accurately find any location and share it more quickly, easily and with less ambiguity than any other means.

For sighted persons the service can be used via the free mobile app or online map. The 3 word combination can be shared verbally, or in all digital means as 3 pure words or the same 3 words embedded in a link for ease-of-use for the recipient. Image, being able to call for a taxi or uber car and to easily identify that you will be standing under a canopy, because it's raining. Imagine being able to share your exact location with a sighted or blind friend before you meet for dinner. Imagine, being on a hiking trail and wanting to share this favorite location as a future meeting place. Easy. With this release of BlindSquare you can establish, in an instant, the 3.word.location using the Voice Command "What 3 words". Your 3 word location will be read aloud! If you move outside of your current 3x3m grid, a new request will deliver a new precise 3 word combination for your new location. Simple. You can also access this and more features by accessing Tools, GPS info and "Share my location" where the new button for What 3 Words will both read your location, copy it to clipboard for downstream use or share it in all the familiar ways such as email, sms and more. Try it, it's exciting! You can learn more by following this link: https://youtu.be/b2GyLKmfP8E

2. In this release you will also find that we killed a few annoying bugs, correcting some street announcement problems in some areas, where wrong street name were read, and killed a bug related to importing GPX format - now corrected.

3. We continue to bring new standards for delivering information, illuminating the information darkness when travelling indoors. We are fast approaching over 300 buildings serviced with BlindSquare, providing seamless support when traveling from outdoors to indoors and back again. New features added to support the use of BlindSquare Dynamic QR's, unlocking detailed descriptions for "what's beyond the door" with ease. Expanding options for city and campus deployments of BlindSquare CLS (Customized Location Services) providing public-facing descriptions of objects and locations that don't exist in conventional mapping.

There is more coming, lead by YOUR feedback and suggestions and those of the caring organizations that we're fortunate to work with.

We welcome you to join the BlindSquare community list serve for support, feedback and the benefits of connecting with others sharing the benefits of BlindSquare.

Subscribe to our discussion list by sending a blank Email to Blindsquaregps-subscribe@cruising.ultragroups.com

Feature - Improved CompassImproved management of COMPASS while indoors. We have accelerated the response-to-turns and suppressed the signalling from GPS sources while operating within a beacon cloud, preventing stray messaging triggered by location changes.

Feature - Perkins BlindWays IntegrationIn March, at CSUN, we jointly announced a partnership between Perkins School for the Blind (Perkins) and BlindSquare supporting the delivery of the greatest transit information solution in North America. Perkins has created an incredible product called BlindWays on the iOS platform. BlindWays gathers, from crowd-sources, inner-circle information for the areas around bus stops. Detailed are descriptions, cautions and clues to best-support the transit rider as they approach their bus stop. Examples on approach, to learn of the presence of bus shelters, landmarks in proximity, trash containers, and more including a description of the actual location of the stop (ie, “on a post”). This, to provide micro-navigation within the inner circle but more, independence. BlindWays provides meaningful descriptions, using consistent language, raising confidence in travel. BlindWays, sponsored by Google, is celebrating its first deployment in Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. 7800 bus stops will soon be fully described with 70% now available.

We were approached by Google and Perkins to explore the connecting of services between BlindSquare (providing global travel support, live and simulated) to BlindWays information (providing inner circle navigation within the 5 meter/16 feet) of benefit to our common friend, the traveler who is blind/partially-sighted or deaf-blind. We shared the vision of the logic and desire to connect the services. BlindSquare version 4.26 presents this solution.

Friends in Boston now have the following features available:Automatically, on approach to bus stops, advise about the route and bus services specific to the location. This includes expected arrival times, by bus.On request, by shaking the device OR by pressing the Fast/Forward button on Media controls (whether wired or bluetooth), hear secondary transit information regarding service changes or disruptions.On request, by pressing the Fast/Forward or rewind button ons Media controls (whether wired or bluetooth), skip-forward or back, through messaging to speed access to information of greatest interest or to review.On request, by shaking by shaking the device OR by pressing the Fast/Forward button on Media controls (whether wired or bluetooth), hear BlindWays’ detailed descriptions of “the inner circle” on approach to the stop. No longer, the risk of standing in a wrong location only to hear the bus expected, driving by.On request, by using the simple Voice Command or the Audio Menu selection “Bus” - request the information relative to the location of interest. Locations can be simulated from any global location, across the city or across the globe.Example, search for “145 Dartmouth Boston”, Simulate this location. Speak the Voice Command “Bus”. Listen, shake as you may wish to unlock secondary information including Service Disruption announcements and BlindWays data.

We are proud of the work and partnering with Perkins to create the most-informed transit rider on the planet.

[Demonstration of BlindSquare and BlindWays integration, by Ilkka Pirttimaa]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5129261/BlindWays-demo.mp3 .

Feature - Improved CompassImproved management of COMPASS while indoors. We have accelerated the response-to-turns and suppressed the signalling from GPS sources while operating within a beacon cloud, preventing stray messaging triggered by location changes.

Feature - Perkins BlindWays IntegrationIn March, at CSUN, we jointly announced a partnership between Perkins School for the Blind (Perkins) and BlindSquare supporting the delivery of the greatest transit information solution in North America. Perkins has created an incredible product called BlindWays on the iOS platform. BlindWays gathers, from crowd-sources, inner-circle information for the areas around bus stops. Detailed are descriptions, cautions and clues to best-support the transit rider as they approach their bus stop. Examples on approach, to learn of the presence of bus shelters, landmarks in proximity, trash containers, and more including a description of the actual location of the stop (ie, “on a post”). This, to provide micro-navigation within the inner circle but more, independence. BlindWays provides meaningful descriptions, using consistent language, raising confidence in travel. BlindWays, sponsored by Google, is celebrating its first deployment in Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. 7800 bus stops will soon be fully described with 70% now available.

We were approached by Google and Perkins to explore the connecting of services between BlindSquare (providing global travel support, live and simulated) to BlindWays information (providing inner circle navigation within the 5 meter/16 feet) of benefit to our common friend, the traveler who is blind/partially-sighted or deaf-blind. We shared the vision of the logic and desire to connect the services. BlindSquare version 4.26 presents this solution.

Friends in Boston now have the following features available:Automatically, on approach to bus stops, advise about the route and bus services specific to the location. This includes expected arrival times, by bus.On request, by shaking the device OR by pressing the Fast/Forward button on Media controls (whether wired or bluetooth), hear secondary transit information regarding service changes or disruptions.On request, by pressing the Fast/Forward or rewind button ons Media controls (whether wired or bluetooth), skip-forward or back, through messaging to speed access to information of greatest interest or to review.On request, by shaking by shaking the device OR by pressing the Fast/Forward button on Media controls (whether wired or bluetooth), hear BlindWays’ detailed descriptions of “the inner circle” on approach to the stop. No longer, the risk of standing in a wrong location only to hear the bus expected, driving by.On request, by using the simple Voice Command or the Audio Menu selection “Bus” - request the information relative to the location of interest. Locations can be simulated from any global location, across the city or across the globe.Example, search for “145 Dartmouth Boston”, Simulate this location. Speak the Voice Command “Bus”. Listen, shake as you may wish to unlock secondary information including Service Disruption announcements and BlindWays data.

We are proud of the work and partnering with Perkins to create the most-informed transit rider on the planet.

[Demonstration of BlindSquare and BlindWays integration, by Ilkka Pirttimaa]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5129261/BlindWays-demo.mp3 .

4.20

30 Jan 2017

Small fixes

4.09

19 Dec 2016

NEW: You can now start navigation with any of the Sendero Group GPS apps from within BlindSquare. Search for your destination in BlindSquare and open it, then double-tap Plan A Route and select the Sendero product installed on your device from the menu. Your Sendero product will open while BlindSquare will continue to run in the background.

NEW: For users of Bluetooth headsets which do not support fast-forward and rewind: You can now use the Radius item in the Audio Menu to change the BlindSquare Radius.

NEW: Italian translation of user guide included. English user guide updated. You may read it by goingto Other, Help.

To learn more about BlindSquare, please check out our podcast by searching for "BlindSquare" in your favorite podcast app.

4.07

28 Nov 2016

New: BlindSquare now supports the new voices of iOS 10. Please note that BlindSquare can only use voices that have been downloaded onto your device. To download new voices, go to your device settings, General, Accessibility, VoiceOver, Speech.

New: The Speech History feature allows listening to previous announcements. When repeating announcements, distances and directions are updated to apply to your current location instead of the location you were at when the announcement was first played. You can activate Speech History mode by selecting it in the VoiceOver rotor. Swipe up or down to hear previous announcements. Alternatively, you can activate it through the music remote control. The Previous Track button will activate Speech History mode. As long as it is active, you can skip between messages using the Previous Track and Next Track buttons. If you press Play, shake your device, or wait for 10 seconds, Speech History mode will be turned off.

New: You can now configure the Audio Menu. Go to Other, Settings, Audio Menu to select or deselect Audio Menu items.

New: A list of all available Voice Commands can be found under Other, Voice Command Credits.

Change: To request location information through a headset or music remote control, please press the Next Track button instead of Previous track.

Fix: The map now works again under iOS 10.

Fix: Release Notes now support more languages.

4.0:New: You can now control BlindSquare through voice commands. Double-tap the Voice Command button in the bottom left corner of the screen and say “help” to hear a list of the commands available. The Voice Command feature is a premium service requiring purchase of credits for continuous use. With the exception of the HELP command and unrecognized commands, each command consumes one credit. Voice Command Credits are available as an in-app purchase on the App Store.

New: Public transport live data integration for Finland, the UK, New Zealand, and Denmark. You can shake your device or use the Audio Menu to hear the closest stop and next departures of buses and trains.

New: Added iOS voice Alex as voice option in BlindSquare (iOS9 only)

New: You can now order a 3D-printed tactile map of an area from within BlindSquare. Go to the location sharing options to find this new feature.

Fix: Selected language is no longer saved in iCloud. Should you accidentally set BlindSquare to another language, you can uninstall the app. When it is reinstalled, it will automatically use the device language.

New: Using 3D touch on the BlindSquare icon now lets you perform searches, add places, check in, and start the Look Around feature.

New: BlindSquare now supports Spotlight Search. You can, for example, search for Chinese restaurants in Spotlight Search and then open the search result in BlindSquare.

New: Time is now the last item in the Audio Menu. When it is activated, BlindSquare will announce the current date and battery level.

New: Apple Maps and Google Maps are now listed as an option for "PublicTransport".

New: Support for Moovit public transport app

Fix: Resolved a problem where the volume of VoiceOver would be decreased when using BlindSquare.

New: User guide translated to Finnish, Italian, and Greek.

4.06

2 Nov 2016

New: BlindSquare now supports the new voices of iOS 10. Please note that BlindSquare can only use voices that have been downloaded onto your device. To download new voices, go to your device settings, General, Accessibility, VoiceOver, Speech.

New: The Speech History feature allows listening to previous announcements. When repeating announcements, distances and directions are updated to apply to your current location instead of the location you were at when the announcement was first played. You can activate Speech History mode by selecting it in the VoiceOver rotor. Swipe up or down to hear previous announcements. Alternatively, you can activate it through the music remote control. The Previous Track button will activate Speech History mode. As long as it is active, you can skip between messages using the Previous Track and Next Track buttons. If you press Play, shake your device, or wait for 10 seconds, Speech History mode will be turned off.

New: You can now configure the Audio Menu. Go to Other, Settings, Audio Menu to select or deselect Audio Menu items.

New: A list of all available Voice Commands can be found under Other, Voice Command Credits.

Change: To request location information through a headset or music remote control, please press the Next Track button instead of Previous track.

Fix: The map now works again under iOS 10.

Fix: Release Notes now support more languages.

4.0:New: You can now control BlindSquare through voice commands. Double-tap the Voice Command button in the bottom left corner of the screen and say “help” to hear a list of the commands available. The Voice Command feature is a premium service requiring purchase of credits for continuous use. With the exception of the HELP command and unrecognized commands, each command consumes one credit. Voice Command Credits are available as an in-app purchase on the App Store.

New: Public transport live data integration for Finland, the UK, New Zealand, and Denmark. You can shake your device or use the Audio Menu to hear the closest stop and next departures of buses and trains.

New: Added iOS voice Alex as voice option in BlindSquare (iOS9 only)

New: You can now order a 3D-printed tactile map of an area from within BlindSquare. Go to the location sharing options to find this new feature.

Fix: Selected language is no longer saved in iCloud. Should you accidentally set BlindSquare to another language, you can uninstall the app. When it is reinstalled, it will automatically use the device language.

New: Using 3D touch on the BlindSquare icon now lets you perform searches, add places, check in, and start the Look Around feature.

New: BlindSquare now supports Spotlight Search. You can, for example, search for Chinese restaurants in Spotlight Search and then open the search result in BlindSquare.

New: Time is now the last item in the Audio Menu. When it is activated, BlindSquare will announce the current date and battery level.

New: Apple Maps and Google Maps are now listed as an option for "PublicTransport".

New: Support for Moovit public transport app

Fix: Resolved a problem where the volume of VoiceOver would be decreased when using BlindSquare.

New: User guide translated to Finnish, Italian, and Greek.

18 Oct 2018

Version 4.90

Fixes issue that caused app to crash

Ratings and Reviews

5.0 out of 5

8 Ratings

8 Ratings

Angizoink
09/05/2018

Fantastic app, but with some anomalies?

I have had this app a few years and I use it exclusively for bus travel. Don’t need it for trains, only if the stop announcement automation is not working then I will employ blind Square. It is fantastic on buses because it opens up an horizon of information I’ve never had access to before. Even on very Familia roots. It gives you everything from pubs, restaurants to businesses. It reads out every junction which it never did before which is very helpful when judging my bus stop distance However, I hear references to searching bus stops as a landmark and I don’t know how to do that. Any help would be appreciated. i’ve never used it for walking a route maybe I will try that. I also do not understand the simulation function I’ve tried it and all I get is extraneous traffic noise please explain what the benefit of this is?

Angizoink
09/05/2018

Fantastic app, but with some anomalies?

I have had this app a few years and I use it exclusively for bus travel. Don’t need it for trains, only if the stop announcement automation is not working then I will employ blind Square. It is fantastic on buses because it opens up an horizon of information I’ve never had access to before. Even on very Familia roots. It gives you everything from pubs, restaurants to businesses. It reads out every junction which it never did before which is very helpful when judging my bus stop distance However, I hear references to searching bus stops as a landmark and I don’t know how to do that. Any help would be appreciated. i’ve never used it for walking a route maybe I will try that. I also do not understand the simulation function I’ve tried it and all I get is extraneous traffic noise please explain what the benefit of this is?

Birmingham GDO
12/03/2018

BlindSquare amazing.

I think this app is fantastic and most definitely worth the £20 cost. I know there are other apps available which are free of charge, but if you can afford the £20 then get this one. Being able to set favourite locations is brilliant and also knowing where you are when travelling on buses. I have also found a couple of really nice restaurants that I didn’t even know existed just by playing with the app whilst sat down having a coffee.

Birmingham GDO
12/03/2018

BlindSquare amazing.

I think this app is fantastic and most definitely worth the £20 cost. I know there are other apps available which are free of charge, but if you can afford the £20 then get this one. Being able to set favourite locations is brilliant and also knowing where you are when travelling on buses. I have also found a couple of really nice restaurants that I didn’t even know existed just by playing with the app whilst sat down having a coffee.

Stuart Duncan
25/03/2018

The best app of its kind

Having this app running in the background is like having a sighted guide with you. Knowing what’s around you as you travel makes the world a more interesting place. Integration with other app such as Google Maps makes this a must for visually impaired people. Well worth the money I

Stuart Duncan
25/03/2018

The best app of its kind

Having this app running in the background is like having a sighted guide with you. Knowing what’s around you as you travel makes the world a more interesting place. Integration with other app such as Google Maps makes this a must for visually impaired people. Well worth the money I